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  3. Science, Medicine, and the Aims of Inquiry
  • Cited by 11
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    • Publisher:
      Cambridge University Press
      Publication date:
      16 May 2024
      23 May 2024
      ISBN:
      9781009449977
      9781009450010
      9781009450027
      DOI:
      https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009449977
      Dimensions:
      (229 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.5kg, 244 Pages
      Dimensions:
      (229 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.359kg, 244 Pages
      • Subjects:
      Medicine: General Interest, Philosophy of Science, Medicine, Philosophy
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    Subjects:
    Medicine: General Interest, Philosophy of Science, Medicine, Philosophy
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    Book description

    After its unparalleled rise and expansion over the past century, medicine is increasingly criticized both as a science and clinical practice for lacking scientific rigor, for contributing to overmedicalization, and for failing to offer patient-centered care. This criticism highlights serious challenges which indicate that the scope and societal role of medicine are likely to be altered in the 21st century. Somogy Varga's ground-breaking book offers a new perspective on the challenges, showing that they converge on fundamental philosophical questions about the nature and aim of medicine. Addressing these questions, Varga presents a philosophical examination of the norms and values constitutive of medicine and offers new perspectives on how to address the challenges that the criticism raises. His book will offer valuable input for rethinking the agenda of medical research, health care delivery, and the education of health care personnel.

    Reviews

    ‘This book offers a novel view of the nature and aims of medicine, which is deployed to defend medicine from excessive scepticism while respecting and developing the challenges that medicine faces today. It is an important contribution to the philosophy of medicine.'

    Jacob Stegenga - Professor of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge

    ‘This excellent book offers a careful and insightful analysis of the nature and aims of medicine. It is unique in positioning medicine in relation both to science and to ethics, and it systematically dismantles extreme stances on medicine while offering stances that are simultaneously moderate and novel.'

    Alex Broadbent - Durham University

    ‘Science, Medicine, and the Aims of Inquiry makes an important contribution to philosophy of medicine. It analyzes medicine’s scientific status and tackles questions about its key aims and its conceptual foundations, offering a balanced perspective that is neither cynical nor naïve. It should appeal to both philosophers of medicine and to those medical practitioners interested in understanding major criticisms of their field. The book succeeds in showing that by grasping what medicine is and how its aims are formulated, we can better grapple with the challenges confronting the discipline.’

    Adrian Erasmus Source: Metascience

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    Contents

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